Many hunters, depending on preference or season, use a bow and arrow rather than guns of various types to hunt game such as deer, turkey and other prey. In fact, bow hunting is a popular sport for which a wide variety of equipment has been developed including highly refined bows and tree stands. Typically, bows used by recreational or professional hunters are compound bows that demand the application of many pounds of pressure to draw the string rearward and this force is applied through the assistance of the mechanical advantage afforded by pulleys. The addition of hardware such as pulleys, which must be of rugged and durable construction, to an already strong bow frame necessarily adds to the weight of the bow. As a result modern bows, although in many instances lighter than earlier models, are still heavy.
In hunting, for example deer hunting, it is also common for the hunter to spend large periods of time in a relatively small tree stand. From such a vantage point, the hunter may view an open area of field or forest and enjoy a clear shooting path in the event that prey emerges from brush and is observed within shooting range. When a hunter waits for prey, there is no comfortable means to hold the bow in a ready position for a long period of time without experiencing discomfort, cramping, or muscle fatigue. Whether the hunter is in a tree stand, in some other waiting position, or merely waiting on the ground, it is important to wait without movement or to minimize motion and minimize the number of steps required between spotting a target and releasing an arrow at the target. The necessity to eliminate motion relates not only to the need to act quickly in the event prey is spotted, but the need to minimize the likelihood that the hunter will create noise and scare the target back into the brush.
If, for example, a bow is allowed to rest on a seat beside a hunter or at the hunter's feet, then the hunter, upon observing prey, must first bend or otherwise move to reach the bow, lift the bow, turn the bow to be properly aligned for the release of an arrow, draw the bow, and release the arrow. Of course, each of these steps permits the creation of sound or observable motion that may alarm the prey or otherwise provide notice of the hunter's presence and send the prey running out of range.
Numerous prior art bow rests or stands exist to aid hunters in the support of their bows as they await prey. Of these devices, it appears that the majority relate to means for attaching a bow to a tree stand, to a tree, or to an object fixed in the ground. Examples of bow holders adapted to allow a hunter in a tree stand to rest a bow include U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,240 issued May 9, 2000, to Gorsuch (the '240 patent) in which a bow is suspended in a vertical position in front of a tree stand from a hanging arm affixed to the tree above the stand, or from a support bracket positioned near a base of the tree stand. The invention of the '240 patent provides a means for relieving the strain otherwise associated with holding a bow in a ready position, however, the hunter's view is necessarily obstructed through placement of the bow in a vertical position in front of the hunter. Further, depending on the degree to which a hunter has shifted position on the tree stand, substantial bodily movement may be required to grasp the bow when prey appears.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,658 issued Jul. 7, 1998, to Englehardt (the '658 patent) discloses a bow holder that may be attached to a tree stand or other hunting structure and which includes arms disposed to hold a bow by compressive force as selected arms are positioned behind the bow and a separate arm is pressed against the opposite side of the bow (see, e.g., FIG. 8 therein). Although the invention of the '658 patent includes the advantage of securing the resting bow between arms or “grips,” this same feature creates the need for an additional step in the move from a resting position to the release of an arrow, i.e. the release of the bow from the grips or compressive arms of the stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,475 issued Oct. 19, 1999, to Johnson (the '475 patent) discloses a simple device that includes an extendible arm, a means for attaching such arm to a tree, and a bow supporting tip that may be rotated about the end of the extended arm to allow positioning of the bow at a desired location relative to the arm. Like the invention of the '240 patent, the invention of the '475 patent is adapted for attachment to a fixed surface and does not move with the hunter as the hunter may change position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,657 issued Jan. 3, 1995, to Foster et al. (the '657 patent) discloses a bow holder adapted for attachment to the top surface a tree stand's base. The invention of the '657 patent discloses a saddle-like base having curved arms that extend upwardly therefrom and which double-back to end in upwardly facing hooks or “Ushaped” ends that are adapted to support a bow end. Again, by placing the bow in the upright position, visibility may be obscured. Further, the fixed base determines placement of the resting bow and, as with the other fixed position inventions, may demand substantial movement or shifting on the part of the hunter at the time that prey is observed.
Additional bow holders for use in combination with a tree stand or other support surface are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,270 issued Mar. 22, 1983, to Kolongowski (the '270 patent), U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,415 issued Jun. 26, 1990, to Williams (the '415 patent), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,363 issued Mar. 8, 1988, to Skyba (the '363 patent). These holders, like all of the holders disclosed above, relate to a means for supporting a bow on a surface or tree stand. They do not disclose a means for supporting a bow that is adapted to allow movement of the bow with the hunter, as the hunter may shift directions within the stand, or as the hunter may travel to and from the stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,800, issued May 12, 1992 to Reynolds (the '800 patent) discloses a bow support structure that may be used in the absence of a tree, tree stand, hunting structure or other surface to support a bow or a holder. The invention of the '800 patent includes a spiked end for insertion into the earth to create, for the ground-based bow hunter, an object that may serve as a support structure for a resting bow.
The prior art also includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,467 issued Jan. 27, 1998 to Brown, Sr. (the '467 patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,537 issued Dec. 16, 1997 to Bowlsby (the '537 patent). Both of these patents disclose inventions with the further object of providing a means for supporting a bow at or near a hunter's side, as through attachment to a belt. The invention of the '467 patent is a “Vertical Bow Holder Device” and it is comprised of rod-like or tubular members formed into belt engaging loops combined with an upper and a lower bow supporting hook. These hooks are adapted to hold a bow vertically in cooperation with the contours of a handle portion of a bow (as illustrated in FIG. 5 thereto). The '537 patent does not disclose or suggest the use of a holder that would place a bow in a horizontal position at a location on the user's body where the bow is in general alignment with the natural resting position of a hunter's relaxed and free-hanging bow-holding hand. Further, the '467 patent does not disclose or suggest a bow supporting holder wherein the bow is suspended by its strings. Rather, the disclosure of the '467 patent is specifically directed towards and adapted for use as a vertical bow holder that supports the bow by its central handle portion.
The '537 patent discloses a belt-mounted bow holder that is adapted to hold a bow in one of two selected angled positions, i.e. a forward tilting “ready” position for use when the hunter is awaiting prey, and a rearward tilting “transport” position for use when the hunter is traveling with the bow. The '537 patent discloses a stabilizer plate that is held against a user's hip or waist and which includes openings or slots to receive a hunter's belt. The '537 patent also discloses an engagement that comprises a tongue or plate for insertion behind a hunter's belt or waistband. A body extends outwardly, away from the hunter, and a body top surface is shown in five separate embodiments, and in the claims, to be located adjacent to the upper end of the stabilizer plate. The '537 patent discloses suspension of the bow by the bow or by the bow string. Notches are placed in the body top surface to cause the bow to rest in one of the two selected angled positions (ready or travel). In all embodiments, it is taught and disclosed to support the bow from a top surface that is at the same elevation, or higher than, the hunter's belt. Therefore, although the '537 patent discloses a bow holder that allows movement of the bow with the hunter, it provides for suspension of the bow from a surface at or above the hunter's belt.
When a typical hunter is kneeling or standing, the hunter's bow-holding hand will rest at a location generally near the midpoint between the hunter's waist and knee if the hand is allowed to hang naturally at the hunter's side. Therefore, the '537 patent fails to teach or suggest, and there remains a need for, a bow holder that provides for the suspension of a bow in a manner that will place the bow's central handle portion at a location generally near the midpoint between a kneeling or standing hunter's waist and knee. There also exists and remains a need for a bow holding device that provides for placement that promotes ease of manipulation of the bow when it is grasped and positioning of the bow sufficiently low on the hunter's body to minimize interference of the resting bow with arm movement.